Billboard Playlists Are Spotify's Most Played in 2013

It was a historic and vibrant year for the Billboard charts, which coronated new stars like Lorde, Baauer and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis while welcoming old favorites in Justin Timberlake, Eminem and Katy Perry, just to name a few. As usual, Billboard kept music obsessives up to date on every ebb and flow in the world of popular music in print, on this website and beyond -- including places like Spotify, where listeners made official Billboard playlists the most popular in the world for 2013.

Billboard's Hot 100 playlist, which launched in 2011 with the Billboard Spotify app and updates for over 1.5 million followers weekly to reflect changes in Billboard's Hot 100 chart, received more total streams this year than any of the 1 billion+ playlists in the Spotify ecosystem, according to a company spokesman. Additionally, the Billboard 200 playlist, which includes songs from albums on the Billboard 200 chart, was the world's most shared on social networks.

In a year where YouTube streams were included in the Hot 100's calculations for the first time, the chart is more authoritative than ever in its rankings of the most in-demand songs in the world, wherever they may be found.

"Unlike most other music charts, which provide rankings based on a single source, the Billboard Hot 100 brings together data from multiple retailers, streaming services and radio stations," said Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard's Director of Charts. "It captures the most interactive consumer behavior towards songs as well as the most listened-to songs across multiple radio formats."